The Tengu Trials
by ragingphysicist
Summary: Every time the sorcerer is defeated by the ninja, they are tasked to undergo the Tengu Trials; a series of trials testing their ability and readiness to learn new skills. However, when a new enemy has risen up, and the trials aren't proving successful for Randy, as he becomes frustrated, he gets stanked. Now it's up to Howard and some unlikely allies to unstank the ninja.


A year. A whole honkin' year. Twelve months since the sorcerer was defeated for good. McFist had stopped building weapons of Ninja destruction as well. It was just him, Howard, and excessive binging of the new Grave Puncher virtual reality game. The Ninja Nomicon sat on the plum-haired teen's bed, it's red glow flashing violently in desperate hopes to get the ninja's attention.

"Boom! Beaten, again," Randy exclaimed as he danced around in place, waving his controllers in the air.

Howard groaned and threw his head back in defeat. "Aw no fair, you cheated, Cunningham. I want a rematch!" He waved his controller in front of him, aiming for the screen shown through the goggles. From a third person perspective, this would look like a blindfolded person attempting to navigate an unfamiliar setting. Before Howard could even click on the play again button, a new screen appeared.

"Player One has punched 1,000 graves. New level unlocked!" Randy''s virtual surroundings warped from its usual grey, somber atmosphere to one of red and fiery labyrinths (which resembled modern depictions of hell) that matched Randy's passion and determination.

"So honkin' cool!" Once again, he cheered in glee, clutching the controllers while his friend only moaned in distaste and jealousy, removing his goggles. Beyond Randy's shouts and chants of his best friend, Howard spotted the Ninja Nomicon, still flashing in anger and annoyance. The vibrations of the book were beginning to shake the bed. Even from his place, could Howard feel its rage rumbling beneath his feet. Howard had never seen it this annoyed trying to get his student's attention. Well, maybe that one time when Randy left it in his locker when the entire school went to Snoklahoma.

"Cunningham, the stupid book seems mad, you should probably check it out," said the orange-haired teen, the words rolling off his tongue He grinned, knowing that getting Randy to shloomp into the Nomicon will make him lose the game and he would get to play it instead. However, his attempt at calling him failed as the other one still flailed his arms and legs in punching and kicking motions. Loud music can be heard from the headsets, which only made Howard shake his head. Yelling out his name wasn't going to work. He tried to think of another solution, because he was not losing an opportunity to play a secret level of Grave Punchers. :Awww, this is too much thinking," he exclaimed as he put his hands up to his head. Down to his last resort, Howard picked up the Nomicon and smacked it against the back of Randy's head.

"Ow, what the juice, Howard," Randy yelled. "You made me lose the level. I was on a streak! Wait, why do you have the Ninja Nomicon in your hands?" In the midst of short silence, they could hear the headset say "you lost the level. You are the world's worst grave puncher." Howard only clicked his teeth.

"Don't yell at me, I was only trying to get your attention." Nomicon still in his hands, Howard shoved it into Randy's chest. "The stupid book has flashed like crazy. I was trying to tell you to check out what cheesed it off." This time, the Nomicon's furious rumbling and glowing now only small bursts, matching the rhythm of Randy's heartbeat and confirming Howard's comment.

.

"Alright, alright, I'm goin,'" Randy said. He opened the book and with a quick flash, his body fell limp to the ground hitting his head against the bed frame, and eyes rolled back.

Randy fell straight down into the book of ancient ninja wisdom. He landed with a thud and an "oof" on his stomach. As he stood up, he looked around at his surroundings. He was inside the temple again, but this time, small torches adorned the walls, illuminating the red and golden embroidery. Taking in the scenery Randy walked down the hall. Bamboo ringed signs sparked a familiarity to him. "The Ultimate Lesson" invoked That whole incident where he accidently mind-wiped himself haunted him. He was nowhere near ready for that. Then there was the Mac Antfee situation. A massive shoob who abused his power as the ninja and swore to take revenge on the current one. It of course ended with Randy erasing all his memory of being a ninja. After that incident, he questioned himself if that would ever happen to him; not that he wanted it to.

Muffled voices could be heard from down the corridor as he snapped out of his thoughts. He peeped through a door that had rays of golden light shining through them. Upon entering, an illustrated sword nearly slicing his ear off, greeted him. Randy screeched as he side stepped out of the way just in time to just miss it.

Nomicon-illustrated figures were fighting in what was another animation the book had Randy sit through. One figure was a repkica of the ninja, wearing a faded black suit and its signature red scarf. They stood in a defensive fighting stance with their hands balled into fists after losing the sword. Standing across from the ninja, was a taller figure covered in a cloak. An orange ribbon was tied around their waist.

Randy cocked his head in confusion as what this had to do with him.

"Okay Nomicon, what's going on? Is this a new enemy I have to face," he questioned. He was hushed by the two fighters. Putting up his hands defensively, Randy nodded, and continued watching the scene before him.

However, the scene changed from the spar to the ninja sitting in a room with a book and a pencil as the taller one stood watching them. Randy stared in disgust.

"Ugh, don't tell me I have to do real book studying as the ninja. I thought it was all about getting to learn new fighting strategies."

Once again, he was silenced. The two face-palmed; a common gesture done when Randy misinterpreted the Nomicon's words or whenever he did something stupid. The ninja went back to whatever he was doing and the scene shifted again. This time the three were in a darkened room, the only source of light being a single candle sitting in front of Randy. He went out to reach it, but was smacked on the backside of his hand.

Now, the ninja sat parallel to the flame, staring at it in concentration. What seemed like a harmless meditation exercise, soon quickly became strict as when the ninja began to lose focus and started to laugh, the taller figure tossed ninja rings. A finger pointed at them, similar to that of a mom to her misbehaving child.

Again, Randy only stared. His sapphire blue eyes looked up, hoping for an explanation.

Finally, as if it didn't feel like forever, the usual large scribbled words formed by the book revealed themselves.

"During the summer of the ninja's third year, must they undergo the Tengu Trials. It is only when they have succeeded and proven their strength of will, should they learn new ancient techniques."

"So bruce," Randy exclaimed, pumping his fists in the air and quickly pulling them down as if saying "score!"

In a quick flash of light, the room now stood as a blank page. A door on the other side opened, revealing another darkened hallway. Randy gulped, a sense of fear crawling down his back as he walked through. The door slammed behind him, gaining a jump and stumble from the teen. More torches illuminated the corridor with each step he took. Nothing seemed more scarier to him than walking this path. It wasn't the terror of a pending jumpscare, but a tense, intimidating aura that came from the end. One only knew what could be watching him. The book was full of mysterious secrets.

The silhouette of a tall, slim figure similar to the one of the doodles could be seen from what looked like the end. Each step closer that the ninja took, revealed a new part of it. "It" was a human. Female. Her light brown hair flowed down to about her mid back, with half of it tied in a braid and wrapped in a bun and topped off with a small orange ribbon. It glowed a bright golden color against the torchlight. She wore a long, black one-piece jumpsuit, complemented with detached sleeves down to her wrists and another larger and brighter orange ribbon tied around her waist. What Randy noticed most though was how she bore no shoes.

Randy eventually stood parallel to her at about three feet. The two stared each other down, neither saying anything until the girl finally said something that caught Randy off-guard.

"Hello, ninja, or should I call you Randall Cunningham."


End file.
